Northern Ireland escapes worst of two ‘weather bombs’ in one week

Flooding at Merchant's Quay Plaza in Limerick as Storm Brian hit Ireland with winds of up to 80mph battering coastal areas

Published:17:59Sunday 22 October 2017

For the second time in a week Northern Ireland has escaped the worst of the storms battering Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

There were concerns that Storm Brian would bring travel disruption less than a week after ex-hurricane Ophelia caused some damage to property – and led to all schools in the Province being closed for two days.

It is looking changeable but there are no storms on the horizon for Northern Ireland

Met Office spokeswoman

However, as with Ophelia, Northern Ireland remained relatively unscathed while winds of almost 80mph wreaked havoc in parts of Britain and flood defences were breached in the Republic.

The latest storm brought high winds and large Atlantic waves through Friday night and into Saturday leading to road closures and some ferry cancellations, but damage was limited, the head of the Republic’s emergency coordination group said.

Limerick city appeared to be one of the areas worst hit, with the River Shannon having overflowed. Flooding in Limerick later receded as water levels in the Shannon fell after the morning high tide.

By Sunday afternoon around 10,000 Irish homes, farms and businesses remained without power, energy chiefs said.

In England, The Great South Run in Portsmouth and Southsea was cancelled, while some of the worst weather struck the Llyn Peninsula on the north west coast of Wales,

On Sunday, a Met Office spokeswoman said the outlook for Northern Ireland was “changeable”.

She said: “It is looking changeable but there are no storms on the horizon for the time being. There should be a reasonably bright start and quite a lot of sunshine around on Monday, with a high of around 14 or 15C.”